St. Basil's Cathedral on Red Square: a brief history. History of the Intercession Cathedral (St. Basil's Cathedral). Help St. Basil's Cathedral who

Inside St. Basil's Cathedral

For a long time I wanted to visit inside the Intercession Cathedral on Red Square - perhaps the main symbol not only of Moscow, but of our entire vast Russia. It was interesting whether he was just as beautiful on the inside, or whether all his unusualness was only on the outside. Like the Kremlin walls, it was originally not red, but white. Moreover, his domes were not so painted and intricate; they were originally gold. But these changes affected the temple long before the Bolsheviks came to power.

Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, on the Moat, or Intercession Cathedral, and among the people St. Basil's Cathedral is actually a museum, and is part of the above-mentioned complex of museums on Red Square.

The first impression of the temple is “this is some kind of labyrinth!” Indeed, many corridors and small passages and stairs can confuse you at first.

There is no antiquity here. The restoration of the temple, which began in 1991, is still underway. In 2011, after restoration, new rooms were opened in the lower tier of the cathedral - the basement.

There are many chandeliers, different ones in every nook.

Patterns on the walls.

The windows of the temple offer interesting views of the surrounding area. To Red Square from the back of Minin and Pozharsky.

To the typically Moscow deserted lifeless square of Vasilievsky Spusk.

To the future Zaryadye Park, which should amaze us all with its grandeur.

To the Kremlin wall and the Spasskaya Tower, the gates of which President Putin recently proposed opening for tourists. It would be great. And if entrance to the Kremlin were also made free... Someday it will be so.

Today, July 12, the Intercession Cathedral, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, celebrates its 450th anniversary. This date is not accidental: on July 2 (June 29, old style), 1561, the central Intercession Church of the cathedral was consecrated.

The Cathedral of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary on the Moat, better known as St. Basil's Cathedral, is located in the southern part of Red Square in Moscow, near the Kremlin's Spassky Gate, above the descent to the Moskva River. It was built in the mid-16th century by order of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible to commemorate the conquest of the Kazan Khanate - part of the former Golden Horde - as a sign of gratitude for the victory.

It is not known exactly what stood before on the site of the Intercession Cathedral. Russian chronicles contain fragmentary and contradictory reports about wooden and stone churches. This gave rise to many guesses, versions and legends.

According to one version, soon after the return of Ivan IV the Terrible from the Kazan campaign of 1552, on the site of the future Church of the Intercession on the Moat on the edge of the Moscow River, a wooden church in the name of the Life-Giving Trinity with seven chapels was founded on a hill.

Saint Metropolitan Macarius of Moscow advised Ivan the Terrible to create a stone church here. Metropolitan Macarius also came up with the main compositional idea for the future church.

The first reliable mention of the construction of the Church of the Intercession of Our Lady dates back to the autumn of 1554. It is believed that it was a wooden cathedral. It stood for a little over six months and was dismantled before the construction of the stone cathedral began in the spring of 1555.

The Intercession Cathedral was built by Russian architects Barma and Postnik (there is a version that Postnik and Barma are the names of the same person). According to legend, so that the architects could not create a new and better creation, Tsar Ivan IV, upon completion of the construction of an outstanding masterpiece of architecture, ordered them to be blinded. This fiction was subsequently proven to be untenable.

The construction of the temple took only 6 years and only in the warm season. The chronicle contains a description of the “miraculous” acquisition by the masters of the ninth, southern throne, after the entire structure was almost completed. However, the clear symmetry inherent in the cathedral convinces us that the architects initially had an idea about the compositional structure of the future temple: it was planned to build eight chapels around the central ninth church. The temple was built of brick, and the foundation, plinth and some decorative elements were made of white stone.

By the autumn of 1559 the cathedral was basically completed. On the Feast of the Intercession of the Mother of God, all the churches were consecrated, with the exception of the central one, since “the larger church, the middle Intercession, was not completed that year.”

The consecration of the Intercession Church and, accordingly, the entire cathedral took place on July 12 (June 29, old style) 1561. Metropolitan Macarius consecrated the temple.

Each church of the cathedral received its own dedication. The Eastern Church was consecrated in the name of the Holy Life-Giving Trinity. Researchers are still looking for an answer to why this church got its name. There are several hypotheses. It is known that in honor of the “Holy Life-Giving Trinity” a monastery was founded in 1553 in conquered Kazan. It is also believed that on the site of the Intercession Cathedral there originally stood a wooden Trinity Church, which gave its name to one of the chapels of the future temple.

Four side chapels are consecrated in honor of the saints, on whose memory days the most important events of the Kazan campaign took place: Cyprian and Justina (October 2 (15) - on this day the assault on Kazan ended), Gregory, the enlightener of Great Armenia (on his memory day September 30 (13 October) there was an explosion of the Arsk tower in Kazan), Alexander Svirsky (on his memorial day, August 30 (September 12), a victory was won over the army of Tsarevich Epancha, who was rushing from Crimea to help the Tatars), Three Patriarchs of Constantinople Alexander, John and Paul the New ( also commemorated on August 30).

Three more chapels are dedicated to Nikolai Velikoretsky, Varlaam Khutynsky and the Feast of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem. The central throne is named in honor of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, since on October 1 (14), on the day of this holiday, symbolizing the intercession of the Mother of God for the Christian race, the main assault on Kazan began. The entire cathedral was named after the central church.

The prefix “on the Moat”, found in chronicles about the cathedral, is due to the fact that across the entire square, later called Krasnaya, along the Kremlin wall from the 14th century there was a deep and wide defensive ditch, which was filled in in 1813.

The cathedral had an unusual architectural composition - 9 independent churches were built on a single foundation - a basement - and connected to each other by internal vaulted passages surrounding the central temple. Outside, all the churches were surrounded by an initially open gallery-promenade. The central church ended with a high tent, the chapels were covered with vaults and topped with domes.

The ensemble of the cathedral was complemented by a three-hipped open belfry, in the arched spans of which massive bells hung.

Initially, the Intercession Cathedral was crowned with 8 large domes and a small dome over the central church. To emphasize the importance of the building material, as well as to protect the cathedral from atmospheric influences, all its exterior walls were painted in red and white colors. The painting imitated brickwork. The material of the original covering of the domes remains unknown, since they were lost during a devastating fire in 1595.

The cathedral existed in its original form until 1588. Then a tenth church was added to it on the north-eastern side over the grave of the holy fool St. Basil, who spent a lot of time near the cathedral under construction and bequeathed to be buried next to it. The famous Moscow miracle worker died in 1557, and after his canonization, the son of Tsar Ivan IV the Terrible, Fyodor Ioannovich, ordered the construction of a church. Architecturally, it was an independent pillarless temple with a separate entrance.

The place where the relics of St. Basil were found was marked with a silver shrine, which was subsequently lost during the Time of Troubles, at the beginning of the 17th century. Divine services in the saint's church soon became daily, and starting from the 17th century, the name of the chapel was gradually transferred to the entire cathedral, becoming its "popular" name: St. Basil's Cathedral.

At the end of the 16th century, figurative domes of the cathedral appeared - instead of the original burnt covering.

In 1672, an eleventh church was added to the cathedral on the south-eastern side: a small temple over the tomb of St. John the Blessed, the revered Moscow holy fool, buried near the cathedral in 1589.

In the second half of the 17th century, significant changes occurred in the appearance of the cathedral. The wooden canopies over the walkway, which burned down every now and then in fires, were replaced with roofing on arched brick pillars. The Church of St. Theodosius the Virgin was built above the porch of the Church of St. Basil the Blessed. Above the previously open white stone stairs leading to the upper tier of the cathedral, vaulted hipped porches appeared, built on the so-called “creeping” arches.

In the same period, polychrome ornamental painting appeared. It covers the newly built porches, support pillars, outer walls of galleries and parapets of walkways. At this time, the facades of churches retain paintings imitating brickwork.

In 1683, the entire cathedral along the upper cornice was surrounded by a tiled inscription. Large yellow letters on a dark blue background of watered tiles reported on the history of the creation of the temple and its renovation in the second half of the 17th century. The inscription was destroyed a century later during another renovation.

In the 1680s. The belfry was rebuilt. In place of the open structure, a two-tier bell tower with an open upper platform for ringing was erected.

In 1737, during a huge fire, St. Basil's Cathedral was badly damaged, especially its southern church.

Dramatic changes in its painting program occurred during renovations in the 1770s and 1780s. The thrones of wooden churches demolished to prevent fires from Red Square were moved to the territory of the cathedral and under its vaults. At the same time, the throne of the Three Patriarchs of Constantinople was renamed in the name of John the Merciful, and the Church of Cyprian and Justina began to bear the name of Saints Adrian and Natalia (the original dedications to the churches were returned in the 1920s).

The inside of the church was painted with oil paintings depicting saints and hagiographic scenes. Oil painting was renewed in 1845-1848. and at the end of the 19th century. The outside walls were covered with paintings that imitated the masonry of large boulders - “wild stone”. The arches of the basement (lower non-residential tier) were laid, in the western part of which housing for the clergy (temple servants) was placed. The bell tower was combined by an extension with the cathedral building. The upper part of St. Basil's chapel (Church of Theodosius the Virgin) was rebuilt into a sacristy - a repository of church valuables and shrines.

In 1812, the order was given to French artillerymen to blow up the cathedral. However, it was only plundered by Napoleon's troops, but immediately after the war it was repaired and consecrated. The area around the cathedral was landscaped and surrounded by an openwork cast-iron lattice, designed by the famous architect O. Bove.

At the end of the 19th century, the task of returning the cathedral to its original appearance arose for the first time. The specially created Commission for the restoration of the monument included famous architects, scientists and painters, who determined the main directions of research and restoration of the Intercession Cathedral. However, the lack of funds, the October Revolution and the subsequent period of devastation in the history of Russia did not allow the implementation of the planned program.

In 1918, the Intercession Cathedral was one of the first to be taken under state protection as a monument of national and world significance. Since May 21, 1923, it has been open to visitors as a historical and architectural museum. Moreover, until 1929, services were held in the Church of St. Basil the Blessed.

In 1928, the Intercession Cathedral became a branch of the State Historical Museum and remains so to this day.

In the 1920s Extensive scientific restoration work was carried out on the monument, thanks to which it became possible to restore the original appearance of the cathedral and recreate the interiors of the 16th - 17th centuries in individual churches.

From this moment to the present, four global restorations have been carried out, including architectural and pictorial works. The original 16th-century “brick-like” painting was restored outside, in the Church of the Intercession of the Mother of God and in the Church of Alexander Svirsky.

In the 1950s-1960s. Unique restoration work was carried out: a “temple chronicle” was opened in the interior of the central church, in which the ancient architects indicated the exact date of completion of the cathedral - July 12, 1561 (the day of Equal-to-the-Apostles Peter and Paul); For the first time, the iron coverings of the domes were replaced with copper ones. The successful choice of material contributed to the fact that the dome coverings remain undamaged to this day.

In the interiors of four churches, iconostases were reconstructed, almost entirely consisting of icons of the 16th - 17th centuries, among which there are genuine masterpieces of the Old Russian school of icon painting ("Trinity" of the 16th century). The pride of the collection are the icons of the 16th-17th centuries. “Vision of the Sexton Tarasius”, “Nikola Velikoretsky in the Life”, “Alexander Nevsky in the Life”, as well as icons from the original iconostasis of the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary “Basily the Great” and “John Chrysostom”. In the remaining churches, iconostases from the 18th - 19th centuries have been preserved. Among them, two iconostases were moved in the 1770s. from the cathedrals of the Moscow Kremlin (altar barriers in the Church of the Entry of the Lord into Jerusalem and in the central church).

In the 1970s On the outer bypass gallery, under the later entries, a 17th-century fresco was discovered. The found painting served as the basis for recreating the original ornamental painting on the facades of the cathedral.

The year 1990 was an important milestone in the history of the museum: the Intercession Cathedral was included in the List of UNESCO World Heritage Sites in Russia. After a long break, services were resumed in the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The following year, the cathedral was approved for joint use by the State Historical Museum and the Russian Orthodox Church.

In 1997, the restoration of the interior, monumental and easel paintings was completed in St. Basil's Church, closed since the late 1920s. The church was included in the exhibition of the Intercession Cathedral, and divine services were resumed there.

The Russian Orthodox Church holds divine services in the Intercession Cathedral: on the days of the main altars (the Intercession and St. Basil), patriarchal or lordly services are held. Every Sunday an akathist is read at the shrine of St. Basil the Blessed.

In 2001-2011 The seven churches of the cathedral were completely restored, the façade paintings were renewed, and the tempera painting of the internal gallery was partially renewed. In 2007, the Intercession Cathedral became a nominee for the “Seven Wonders of Russia” competition.

The material was prepared based on information from open sources

St. Basil's Cathedral, or the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Mother of God on the Moat, as its canonical full name sounds, was built on Red Square in 1555-1561. This cathedral is rightfully considered one of the main symbols not only of Moscow, but of all of Russia. And it’s not just that it was built in the very center of the capital and in memory of a very important event. St. Basil's Cathedral is also simply incredibly beautiful.

In the place where the cathedral now stands, in the 16th century there stood the stone Trinity Church, “which is on the Moat.” There really was a defensive ditch here, stretching along the entire Kremlin wall along Red Square. This ditch was filled in only in 1813. Now in its place is a Soviet necropolis and Mausoleum.

Iconostasis of the Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Fragment

Intercession Cathedral on the Moat (St. Basil's Cathedral) on Red Square in Moscow. 1555-1561. Church of the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. Central pillar tent

For the whole world, the most famous “calling cards” of Russia are the Kremlin and St. Basil’s Cathedral in Moscow. The latter also has other names, the most popular of which is the Intercession Cathedral on the Moat.

General information

The cathedral celebrated its 450th anniversary on July 2, 2011. This unique structure was erected on Red Square. The temple, amazing in its beauty, is a whole complex of churches united by a common foundation. Even those who know nothing about Russian architecture will immediately recognize St. Basil's Church. The cathedral has a unique feature - all its colorful domes are different from each other.

In the main (Pokrovskaya) church there is an iconostasis, which was moved from the Kremlin Church of the Chernigov Wonderworkers, destroyed in 1770. In the basement of the Church of the Intercession of Our Lady there are the most valuable ones, the oldest of which is the icon of St. Basil (16th century), painted specifically for this temple. Icons from the 17th century are also on display here: Our Lady of the Sign and the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary. The first copies the image located on the eastern side of the church facade.

History of the temple

St. Basil's Cathedral, the history of whose construction is surrounded by a number of myths and legends, was built by order of the first Tsar of Rus', Ivan the Terrible. It was dedicated to a significant event, namely the victory over the Kazan Khanate. Much to the regret of historians, the names of the architects who created this incomparable masterpiece have not survived to this day. There are many versions as to who worked on the construction of the temple, but it has not been reliably established who created St. Basil's Cathedral. Moscow was the main city of Rus', so the tsar gathered the best craftsmen in the capital. According to one legend, the main architect was Postnik Yakovlev from Pskov, nicknamed Barma. Another version completely contradicts this. Many believe that Barma and Postnik are different masters. Even more confusion arises from the third version, which states that St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow was built according to the design of an Italian architect. But the most popular legend about this temple is the one that talks about the blinding of the architects who created this masterpiece, so that they could not repeat their creation.

origin of name

Amazingly, despite the fact that the main church of this temple was dedicated to the Intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, it is known throughout the world as St. Basil's Cathedral. There have always been many holy fools (blessed “God’s people”) in Moscow, but the name of one of them is forever etched in the history of Rus'. Mad Vasily lived on the street and even in winter walked half naked. At the same time, his whole body was entwined with chains, which were iron chains with large crosses. This man was highly respected in Moscow. Even the king himself treated him with unusual reverence. St. Basil the Blessed was revered by the townspeople as a miracle worker. He died in 1552, and in 1588 a church was erected over his grave. It was this building that gave the generally accepted name to this temple.

Almost everyone who visits Moscow knows that the main symbol of Russia is Red Square. St. Basil's Cathedral occupies one of the most honorable places in the whole complex of buildings and monuments located on it. The temple is crowned with 10 magnificent domes. Around the main (main) church, called the Intercession of the Virgin Mary, 8 others are symmetrically located. They are built in the shape of an eight-pointed star. All these churches symbolize the religious holidays that fall on the days of the capture of the Kazan Khanate.

Domes of St. Basil's Cathedral and bell tower

Eight churches are crowned with 8 onion domes. The main (central) building is completed with a “tent”, above which a small “head” rises. The tenth dome was built over the church bell tower. The amazing thing is that they are all completely different from each other in their texture and color.

The modern bell tower of the temple was erected on the site of the old belfry, which completely fell into disrepair in the 17th century. It was erected in 1680. At the base of the bell tower there is a tall, massive quadrangle on which an octagon is erected. It has an open area fenced with 8 pillars. All of them are connected to each other by arched spans. The top of the site is crowned by a tall octagonal tent, the ribs of which are decorated with tiles of different colors (white, blue, yellow, brown). Its edges are covered with green figured tiles. At the top of the tent there is a bulbous dome topped with an octagonal cross. Inside the site, bells that were cast back in the 17th-19th centuries hang on wooden beams.

Architectural features

The nine churches of St. Basil's Cathedral are connected to each other by a common base and a bypass gallery. Its peculiarity is its intricate painting, the main motif of which is floral patterns. The unique style of the temple combines the traditions of both European and Russian architecture of the Renaissance. A distinctive feature of the cathedral is the height of the temple (according to the highest dome) is 65 m. The names of the churches of the Cathedral: St. Nicholas the Wonderworker, Trinity, Martyrs Adrian and Natalia, Entrance to Jerusalem, Varlaam of Khutyn, Alexander of Svir, Gregory of Armenia, Intercession of the Mother of God.

Another feature of the temple is that it does not have a basement. It has extremely strong basement walls (they reach a thickness of 3 m). The height of each room is approximately 6.5 m. The entire structure of the northern part of the temple is unique, since the long box vault of the basement does not have any supporting pillars. The walls of the building are “cut through” by so-called “vents”, which are narrow openings. They provide a special microclimate in the church. For many years, the basement premises were not accessible to parishioners. Hiding niches were used as storage and were closed with doors, the presence of which is now evidenced only by hinges preserved on the walls. It is believed that until the end of the 16th century. The royal treasury was kept in them.

Gradual transformation of the Cathedral

Only at the end of the 16th century. Figured domes appeared above the temple, replacing the original ceiling, which burned down in another fire. This Orthodox cathedral was built until the 17th century. was called Trinity, since the very first wooden church that was located on this site was built in honor of the Holy Trinity. Initially, this structure had a more austere and restrained appearance, since it was built of stone and brick. Only in the 17th century. all domes were decorated with ceramic tiles. At the same time, asymmetrical buildings were added to the temple. Then tents appeared over the porches and intricate paintings on the walls and ceiling. During the same period, elegant paintings appeared on the walls and ceiling. In 1931, a monument to Minin and Pozharsky was erected in front of the temple. Today, St. Basil's Cathedral is jointly managed by the Russian Orthodox Church and the Historical Museum. The structure is a cultural heritage of Russia. The beauty and uniqueness of this temple was appreciated and throughout St. Basil's in Moscow is classified as a UNESCO World Heritage Site.

The significance of the Intercession Cathedral in the USSR

Despite the persecution of the Soviet regime in relation to religion and the destruction of a huge number of churches, St. Basil's Cathedral in Moscow was taken under state protection back in 1918 as a cultural monument of world significance. It was at this time that all efforts of the authorities were aimed at creating a museum in it. The first caretaker of the temple was Archpriest John Kuznetsov. It was he who practically independently took care of the renovation of the building, although its condition was simply terrible. In 1923, the historical and architectural museum “Pokrovsky Cathedral” was located in the Cathedral. Already in 1928 it became one of the branches of the State Historical Museum. In 1929, all the bells were removed from it, and worship services were prohibited. Despite the fact that the temple has been constantly being restored for almost a hundred years, its exhibition was closed only once - during the Great Patriotic War.

Intercession Cathedral in 1991-2014.

After the collapse of the Soviet Union, St. Basil's Cathedral came into joint use with the Russian Orthodox Church and the State Historical Museum. From August 15, 1997, holiday and Sunday services were resumed in the church. Since 2011, previously inaccessible aisles have been open to the public and housed new exhibitions.

St. Basil's Cathedral is the most beautiful and mysterious church in all of Russia. It is believed that the architects who created it were deprived of their sight, Stalin himself did not allow the building to be demolished, and during the war the temple was hidden from shelling. The upper tier of the cathedral resembles a labyrinth, and the base resembles an eight-pointed star. We have collected all the most important things about the temple, by which foreigners unmistakably recognize Russia.

St. Basil's Cathedral - real name

St. Basil's Cathedral is a cult building from the time of Ivan the Terrible, by which any foreigner still recognizes Moscow. This is the most recognizable Russian temple. Few people know its true name - the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary on the Moat. On July 2 (June 29, old style), 1561, the central Intercession Church of the cathedral was once consecrated. The first reliable mention of the construction of the Church of the Intercession of Our Lady dates back to the autumn of 1554. It is believed that it was a wooden cathedral, which was later demolished to build a stone church.

The reason for the construction of the cathedral was the conquest of the Kazan Khanate. Tsar Ivan the Terrible, praying before the start of a military campaign, made a vow to God to build a temple, which Rus' had never seen before, in the event of his victory. The king was harsh and merciless, but remained a deeply religious man.

St. Basil's Cathedral - history

In order to preserve the beautiful building in a single copy, Tsar Ivan the Terrible ordered the architects Postnik and Barma to be blinded, so the legend says. Their names became known only at the end of the 19th century. It is believed that the king watched the construction of the temple from a tower on the Kremlin wall. When construction came to an end, he called the architects to him to ask if they could repeat such a building? The architects answered the king in the affirmative. Then he ordered to deprive them of their sight. Scientists also have doubts about this: in the 16th century, outstanding architects were highly valued. So Italian craftsmen were invited to build the Kremlin. It is quite possible that, knowing the harsh disposition of the Russian Tsar, foreigners spread the rumors.

In the XVIII-XIX centuries. Divine services were regularly held in St. Basil's Cathedral. As a rule, they were performed in the annex - a church built in honor of St. Basil the Blessed, because the other churches were cold. That is why the name has taken root among the people - St. Basil's Cathedral.

Divine services in the temple continued until the beginning of the 20th century. The last rector became, now canonized in the host of new martyrs and confessors. He was shot for missionary activity. He enjoyed special love and respect among Muscovites.

Eyewitnesses said:

“At the request of Father John, the executioners allowed all the condemned to pray and say goodbye to each other. Everyone knelt down, and fervent prayer poured out... And then everyone said goodbye to each other. The first to cheerfully approach the grave was Archpriest Vostorgov, who had previously said a few words to the others, inviting everyone, with faith in God’s mercy and the speedy revival of the Motherland, to make the final atoning sacrifice. “I’m ready,” he concluded, turning to the convoy. Everyone stood in the indicated places. The executioner came close to him from behind, took his left hand, twisted him by the lower back and, putting a revolver to the back of his head, fired, at the same time pushing Father John into the grave.”

During the Great Patriotic War, the museum did not stop its work, although it was closed to visitors. St. Basil's Cathedral was carefully camouflaged to protect it from bombing. There is a legend that after the war, Stalin was offered to remove the cathedral under the pretext of interfering with the parade. It is believed that Kaganovich showed Stalin a model of the square, and in his presence removed the model of the temple, offering to demolish it. Stalin abruptly interrupted him: “Lazarus, put him in his place!” Since then, no one has questioned the integrity of the cathedral.

St. Basil's Cathedral - architecture

The cathedral was built over 6 years from 1555 to 1561. Its original image was changed by extensions, but the idea of ​​​​St. Basil's Cathedral seems unusual even in modern times. It looks like a vault of eight churches that surrounds the tallest one, the ninth. A similar temple still does not exist in Russia. Each temple has its own entrance and lighting, however, the cathedral is a single building.

Without the attached porches, St. Basil's Cathedral seemed to be moving upward. The craftsmen used all possible architectural decorations at that time. All the domes of the cathedral are similar, but made differently. Nevertheless, the building looks very harmonious. This is one of the unique features of the cathedral. The idea of ​​particular differences with general similarity also dominates the interior design of the cathedral. There are a lot of sacred symbols in the architecture of the cathedral: a circle is a symbol of eternity, a triangle is a symbol of the trinity of God, a square reminds of equality and justice, and a dot is the beginning of life. The architecture of the cathedral contains enormous spiritual meaning.

The thickness of the walls of the base of St. Basil's Cathedral reaches three meters. It is this thickness that allows you to securely hold as many as nine buildings. If you look at the base of the church, you can see that 8 small churches form an eight-pointed star - a symbol of the Virgin Mary. In the ensemble of small churches there are larger churches. They are strictly oriented to the cardinal directions and form symmetry. The main temple, with a huge dome and tent, represents the Protection of the Virgin Mary, Her intercession.

The first changes to the Cathedral of the Intercession of the Virgin Mary on the Moat occurred almost immediately after construction and were associated with the name of the famous Moscow saint - St. Basil the Blessed. Before the appearance of the stone cathedral on this site, there was a wooden Trinity Church, where Saint Basil often came to pray. In 1558, a lower church was added to the Intercession Cathedral over the burial place of the Moscow wonderworker, St. Basil the Blessed. To build this temple, the builders dismantled part of the original cathedral.

In the 17th century, two elegant porches with double tents were added to St. Basil's Cathedral, and a roof was erected over the outer gallery.

St. Basil's Cathedral - the idea

This choice of the architects is due to the fact that, according to the idea, St. Basil's Cathedral was supposed to symbolize paradise, the city of the Lord. The idea belonged to Metropolitan Macarius, and the architects tried to bring it to life. Epochs changed, and along with them, people’s ideas about what heaven should look like changed, and therefore the cathedral underwent changes. The main idea remained unchanged: St. Basil's Cathedral is a prototype of a heavenly paradise, a blossoming garden. It is decorated with grape leaves, beautiful flowers, plants that do not grow on the ground...